A serial rapist Lithuanian man – who was in Britain for just one month before he brutally raped a woman in Northampton – has had his prison term increased to a life sentence after his original 7-year punishment was deemed ‘unduly lenient’.
Gintas Burinskas, who brutally attacked a vulnerable woman just four months after completing a prison sentence in his home country of Lithuania, had his prison sentence increased today after Britain’s Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal.
Burinskas was sentenced last year to 7 years at Northampton Crown Court, but Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas today increased the original term to a life sentence, stating: “We are satisfied that the seriousness of this offence is such as to justify the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment.”
The Solicitor General, Oliver Heald QC MP said: “This was a particularly vicious, prolonged and totally unprovoked attack where the victim feared for her life. When she tried to escape she was brutally beaten.
“I asked the Court of Appeal to look at the sentence imposed in this case as I felt the original sentence was too low, given that Burinskas had only recently been released from a 10 year sentence of imprisonment for a rape committed in his native Lithuania. The Court of Appeal in its judgment has acknowledged that the extended sentence originally imposed did not adequately protect the public and that Burinskas is a very dangerous criminal. To protect the public the Court has quashed the original sentence and substituted it with a sentence of Life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 6 years.”
The Daily Mail reports that Burinskas has previously served a total of 19 years behind bars in Lithuania.
“In most instances EU rules mean Britain must open its doors to citizens of a fellow EU country, even if they have a criminal record. But offenders who pose a ‘serious risk’ – such as a rapist – can be turned away by border officials.”
The attack was conducted in the early hours of Boxing Day 2012, wherein Burinskas attacked and raped his victim as she walked along a street in Northampton. The Solicitor General’s office wrote: “Burinskas kicked her to the ground before kicking her to the head, stamping on her body and punching her twice in the stomach. Her lower jaw was fractured and she lost two teeth”.
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